Eren POV
Eren woke to the world still covered in darkness. He assumed he had managed to only get about 3 or 4 hours of sleep. Nerves of the next few days did not allow his brain to turn off. Eren glanced again out his window. The sky was still dark but early signs of the sunrise started to spread into the dark sky. He decided getting more sleep was worthless so Eren left his bed. He hissed as his feet came into contact with the cold floor. Deciding to take a shower, Eren headed out from his room and made his way for the washroom. Rubbing his eyes he reached for the handle leading into the bathroom but as he pulled it open from the outside, at the same time it was pushed open from the inside. "Whoa... shit." Eren heard a startled exclaim from Levi as they both seemed surprised by the other being awake and lost their footing.
Eren felt himself stumble backwards as he was pushed to the ground. He opened his eyes to see Levi on top of him looking down at him. "You okay, brat?" "Shit! Sorry, I didn't expect you to be up just yet," said Eren. His face flushed a little as he dared a glance downward. Levi had indeed just come out of a shower since the only thing he was wearing was a towel. Eren's eyes traced up Levi's toned and fit body noticed a variety of scars of all different shapes and sizes. He often wondered how someone who spent most of his life on ships in the sun stayed so incredibly pale without sunburns or tanning. Levi's skin was extremely cool to the touch which for Eren felt great as he always felt like he himself ran much warmer than others.
Levi removed himself from on top of Eren. He watched as Levi reached his hand out to help Eren up. "You okay there brat? I... uh didn't mean to startle you," Levi said. Eren reached for Levi's hand which pulled him up and replied, "Yeah sorry, I didn't expect to see you up yet is all." Levi just simply nodded with the same blank expression as always. Eren finally allowed himself to release the breath he didn't even realize he was holding. "Well, I'm going to make us some breakfast. The shower is all yours," Levi said before walking past Eren giving him a slight squeeze on the shoulder. Despite Levi's cool skin, Eren felt the tingles and warmth he always felt when Levi showed any kind of physical affection toward him. Eren simply walked into the bathroom scratching his head. Never in a million years did Eren ever think that receiving physical affection from someone else, especially an Alpha , as well as actually feeling good would even be possible to him.
Eren felt as the dark images he always kept locked away in the darkest parts of his mind started to seep in to his thoughts. How could someone as incredible as Levi even want to touch him, let alone court him? Eren walked to the shower still engulfed in the darker side of his mind. He felt the familiar anxiety making itself more and more present. Eren battled his own mind. The part of himself that always swore revenge and death on Alphas and most people that weren't Mikasa and Armin was like a hurricane of ill thoughts. However, the other part of Eren that longed for the small touch and intimacy from Levi ran though his veins like small electric currents. He felt on the verge of a panic attack. The thoughts swirled through his mind: the good ones and the bad. Each thought trying to make their way to the top.
Eren felt his Omega stirring inside him telling him to call for Levi, but Eren knew if he was going to survive this life he would have to face these demons he kept locked away himself. "100, 99, 98, 97…" Eren began counting down to himself as he felt the warm water fall down his body. "Breath in and out, Eren…" he spoke to himself willing his nerves to settle down. Slowly but surely Eren felt as his emotions and heart rate started to simmer and relax. He spent only a few moments more in the warm stream until he felt significantly calmer and turned off the water. Eren dressed himself and headed down to the kitchen where he smelt the familiar aroma of eggs and sausages cooking.
After the awkward morning run-in, Levi and Eren ate quietly yet in a comfortable atmosphere. As Eren was finishing his eggs. Levi spoke up breaking the silence. "So, here is what is going happen today, brat." Eren swallowed down his final bite nervously and nodded as Levi continued. "You will follow me down to the navigation room in the main hall where there is a map of the entire island. You will have 15 minutes to memorize what you can of the island and its terrain. You will then be given a compass and knife as your only supplies. Again, the point of this trial is to be resourceful."
Eren nodded again in understanding as Levi continued. "We have a trail that leads into the forest. Most of the village enjoys walking with participants up to the gate leading to the forest entrance. I then personally lead the new recruit to the start point. From there I will wish you good luck and your trial will begin. Make your way to the center of the island, grab a branch from the Sacred Sakura Tree and make your way back. The trial on average takes about two days but some people have returned in less than 36 hours while others took an additional day. There is not necessarily a set time limit but for the most part the village and I won't wait more than 72 hours before sending out a search party." Eren nodded his head again in understanding feeling those familiar nerves shoot back up again.
After the dishes were cleaned, Eren and Levi made their way back towards the main village. Levi led him directly to the navigation room. He opened the door and Eren peered inside. The room was simple. Housing maps, bookshelves along the walls and a round table in the middle of the room. "This is where I leave you. You have 15 minutes. The map is in the middle of the room on the round table." Eren turned again to face Levi who still stood on the outside of the room. "Okay," Eren replied. Levi simply gave him a reassuring gaze and shut the door. Eren made his way to the table not wanting to waste any time and looked over the map. The island was irregularly shaped and much larger than Eren had initially anticipated. Eren saw as parts of the island stretched out in various arms and coves. If he was not careful it seemed very easy to get lost.
Most of the island was covered in thick regions of woods and two rivers ran through it. One river ran from the east side of the island to west while the other ran from the northern part of the island into a lake near the Sakura Tree in the middle of the island. The west and north sides of the island were lined with cliffs that dropped right down into the ocean. In the northeastern part of the island laid what seemed like a small mountain… or volcano even. Eren was not sure but if it was actually a volcano when this whole thing was over, Eren knew he wanted to see it having never seen an actual volcano in his life.
The main village was located in the southeastern part of the island meaning they had sailed in on the east side of the island. The southernmost part of the island had a U-shaped beach which looked like it was used for fishing. Eren would have to head northwest to get to his destination. As Eren finalized his directions and plan he heard the door open behind him. "Time is up, Eren. Time to go," Levi said. "Okay, I'm ready," Eren replied and made his way to follow Levi back out of the navigation room and outside.
Outside the entire village seemed to be waiting and anticipating the start of the trials. They all seemed to give a little cheer in encouragement. Eren and Levi walked through the crowd and Eren felt as hands clasped down on his shoulder for good luck and people all around him seemed to be wishing him even more. Eren watched as Mikasa and Armin squeezed their way through the crowd to walk next to him. "Are you ready, Eren?" Armin began followed by a concerned glance from Mikasa. "As ready as I'll ever be," Eren replied trying to not sound nervous. He had decided against telling them about Levi's theory of a spy. Mikasa would immediately disallow him from her sight, trials or not and Armin would begin formulating plans to weed the spies out and tell Eren his safety was much more important than a trial. He knew somewhere they were probably right but he wanted to pass these trials now more than ever. He was finally taking his own steps in life and gaining his freedom from the chains that have shackled him for so long.
Eren passed through the gate leading to the forest trail that led to the trial starting point and the villagers immediately stopped following. He paused only for a moment and was pulled into a group hug with Mikasa and Armin. Mikasa whispered in his ear to stay safe and not do anything rash or stupid. Armin simply chuckled agreeing with her and they all let go. Eren gave them one last reassuring nod while signing to them *I promise I'll be back before you know it.* They simply nodded in understandingly and Eren turned towards Levi who was simply waiting a bit further up on the trail and followed him around the bend.
As soon as soon as they were out of sight of the village, Levi reached for Eren's hand and Eren grabbed it. They walked again in silence about a quarter mile before they came in sight of a large stone pillar. "Eren, this is it," Levi said. Eren began to release his hand from Levi but Levi only seemed to hold it a bit tighter. "Eren, listen and please listen all the way to the end okay?" Levi began but in a tone that was only above a whisper. "I know on this trial you are only permitted a compass and survival knife you were given but I want you to take this as well." Eren looked down to see a small blade in his hand. Eren knew he didn't want to receive any special treatment so he opened his mouth to begin to argue but Levi cut him off sounding extremely urgent.
"Eren, I don't want you to think I am giving you any type of special treatment and this is not what this blade is for. This is a hidden blade that hides on the inside of your shirt sleeve. Everyone in this village, including the spy, believes you are entering this trial with only one knife and a compass. If for whatever reason the spy is able to…" Eren watched as Levi seemed to battle down a growl. "If they are able to capture you, they will most likely not even search you for other weapons after taking your survival knife away." Eren stayed quiet again as Levi continued. "Eren, I know if everything does go smoothly you would never use this small knife to give yourself a better advantage but please, for me, take it in case something does happen." Levi finally seemed done and Eren took hold of the knife and brought it to his face. The knife was small and laid in a small leather band that buckled around his arm under your sleeve. It was thin and would almost be unnoticeable to the naked eye.
Eren wanted to be stubborn and refuse it. He didn't want Levi to think he couldn't make it through the trial without it. But Eren also knew Levi was correct. The spy was someone on Levi's ship and would no doubt be a formidable opponent if they were to follow Eren into the trial. No doubt they would be carrying their own weapons and if Eren lost his knife, he would be almost weaponless except for his command pheromone. But if the situation came to the point of using his command pheromone, Eren could find himself in an even worse predicament of his body being crippled in the middle of a forest with any wide range of creatures and wild animals.
Finally nodding his head, he agreed to take the hidden blade. "I promise I will only use this if there is a need. I plan on making it through this trail faster than anyone before me, using only my skills," Eren said fastening the blade under his shirt to his arm feeling that same determination to prove himself burning though him. Eren looked up to Levi who seemed to be looking at him with a fire in his own eye but Levi simply nodded keeping that same emotionless face. Eren walked up to the stone pillar and peered into the dense forest looking down to his compass and then back to Levi. He simply gave Levi one last nod and turned back to the forest making his way inside.
The trail continued for only about a half mile more until it came to an abrupt stop. For the most part the trail had run in the correct direction. Taking one last deep breath Eren looked down at his compass before heading into the dense trees. The forest was deep green and the footing was extremely bad. Vines and branches littered the ground making not tripping hard even at a moderate walking pace. The heavy brush above made tracking the sun nearly impossible which made Eren rationalize the extreme importance of his compass. Eren glanced back down at his compass again and kept it to his best abilities heading northwest.
As the day trailed on Eren had been able to bring up his pace. Years of traveling in uneven terrain finally proved to his advantage. Wanting to pace himself, he stayed at a light jog every so often checking his direction. After a couple of hours of travel, Eren had come up to the first river that ran through the center of the island. Eren took the opportunity to rehydrate himself and find his first meal. Upon remembering the map Eren knew this was the only river of the two he would probably come across. Having survived much longer in worse terrain, Eren decided with a final meal here he could make it to Sakura Tree and back before he dehydrated as long as he didn't overexert himself.
After a quick meal of fish and a surplus of water, Eren decided to move on. Reaching the river meant he was most likely half a day from the tree. If he set a good pace from here he could make it to the tree a little after sunset. It would risk traveling a short while in the dark but Eren hoped at least a small amount of moonlight would shine through the trees. After what seemed like 3 or 4 hours of travel, Eren noticed as the sky seemed to darken. Not being entirely too sure how much further he would need to travel, he started contemplating setting up camp early but not too soon after a growl from somewhere inside the brush was heard.
Eren snapped immediately to attention. He stilled himself completely not making a sound. His eyes were scanning from one section of the forest to the next trying to locate the source of the growling. All of a sudden, another growl was heard on his left in a different spot than the first. "Shit," Eren thought to himself. "A pack." Eren had dealt with all assortments of packs before but never alone. If they were wolves, Eren would take to the trees. Wolves were not always the best of climbers but for all Eren knew it was a completely new species he had never even seen. They could be exceptionally fast or incredible climbers. If he climbed a tree with a predator who could climb it would mean certain death for him.
Without any time to think, the first predator jumped from the brush. It seemed to be a mix between a fox and panther or another large cat. The fur on most of its body was sleek and black like a panther with a similar head structure but the body was smaller and more agile like a fox. It had pointed ears that were long and the hair around its head and on its tail was more plush and long. Eren pulled his knife from his boot as the animal leaped forward teeth bared for Eren's throat and Eren jabbed the knife into its stomach. With a yelp the predator went still and Eren dropped it to the ground. Just as Eren pulled out his knife a rumbling unison of growls erupted around him. He was surrounded.
Run. That was the only option. Eren knew he had about as much of a chance of outrunning whatever animal this was as Grisha seeing the wrongdoing in his life. But he knew he needed to survive and pushed forward. He wanted to kick himself for not fully checking his surroundings with only the intention to stay on course, He must have stumbled right onto this creature's home territory. Eren felt terrible with each animal he killed knowing he had stumbled into their protective territory. They were acting the way any animal would. He sent a silent apology to them with every kill. With the downfall of his 4th kill the rest of the pack seemed to become warier of attack.
Eren noticed the pack began to run back into the brush while others started to slow and stopped chasing him. Whatever these animals were they were highly intelligent. They were also not all completely black but some were shades or red and white while others were dark gray and maroon. Eren did not risk slowing down and continued running until he tripped and started to roll down a small hill. Eren tumbled hitting his knees and head on various roots and stones until he finally hit the bottom. He only gave himself a moment of breath before getting up and preparing to continue running.
The moment Eren looked up he was met with one of the most beautiful sights he had ever seen. A large Sakura tree stood in the middle of a large round valley. With no other trees around, there was a clear view of the sky and moonlight filtered down into the valley. Flowers Eren had never seen in his life littered the valley glowing in the dark with luminosity similar to the moon. Eren walked to the tree. It was a weeping willow Sakura tree. Different shades of pinks and whites fell down its intertwining branches which some seemed to also be glowing in the moonlight.
Eren made his way up slowly to the tree and grabbed a small branch low to the ground. Ever so carefully he broke the branch off and secured it away into his pouch. Eren could swear he could feel all of earth's energy pulsing through this tree. Eren took his head and placed it up to the trunk and felt the incredible energy seeming to ooze off the bark. Eren felt at peace. He felt as though mother nature itself was wrapping him in her embrace. Eren decided this was where he would set camp for the evening but as he started to get up from the tree Eren felt a prick to the side of his neck under his ear. He was pulled out from his relaxed state but the world began to spin. He reached up to his neck to find a dart in which he pulled out. The world went dark and Eren fell to the ground.